


An Open Window

by thesmallchameleon



Category: No. 6 (Anime & Manga), No. 6 - All Media Types, No. 6 - Asano Atsuko
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Post-Canon, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-28
Updated: 2016-11-28
Packaged: 2018-09-02 18:53:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8679403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesmallchameleon/pseuds/thesmallchameleon
Summary: He didn't mean to leave the window open.





	

He didn't mean to leave the window open. He really didn't. But there it was, surrounded by a dark moat of soaked carpet, curtains billowing with the wind from the storm outside. Shion sighed. He was already soaked to the bone himself, and now he had to deal with this. This day just seemed to get longer and longer. 

The morning had been sunny. Shion had opened the window to let in the fresh morning air as he got dressed. He had a few meetings today, but they were supposed to end early, leaving him with an entire afternoon to go home and relax. He left a book on the table next to his armchair. It had been taking him far too long to read, given that most nights he fell asleep almost as soon as he came home. But today he would be able to finish it, eat a full meal and get a good night's worth of rest. Or, that had been the plan.

The meetings had dragged on longer than expected. Documents were misplaced, committee members missing, and the bright blue sky had slowly faded to a dull grey canvas that had been predicted with a less than 5% probability. By the time Shion finally made it home, without an umbrella of course, it was late into the evening and his clothes and hair were dripping with frigid water. 

And that window was open, letting in a frightful chill and marking the carpet with a dark stain. 

He made his way to the window, having long abandoned his shoes at the door to his apartment. The carpet squelched beneath his feet as he approached the ghost-like drapes. For a moment, he let the cold rain sting his face as it did that one night so many years ago. How many was it? Six? Nine? No, he'd be lying if he said he'd lost track. It was a little over four years ago that Nezumi said goodbye to him. Eight years since they had first met. 

"Are you gonna start screaming again?" 

Shion froze. Every joint in his body stiffened. 

This was a dream. It had to be. He had had many like it over the past three years. He ignored the voice and shut the window. 

"Shion."

He whipped around, half expecting to find an empty room before him. But no, there he was. Standing tall in front of him, body fuller, face more mature, hair longer, but there he was. Shion took a step back. Then another.

"You're not real," he said quietly, though he didn't believe it himself. The Nezumi he dreamed about had always stayed the same, preserved eternally as a sixteen year old boy as Shion grew into a twenty one year old man. Sometimes he even appeared as a twelve year old child. But never as a man.

A pained expression crossed Nezumi's features as he slowly reached out towards Shion's face. 

"Shion," he said again.

"Don't touch me," Shion said. "You're not real."

Nezumi dropped his hand and took a step back. Shion closed his eyes tightly, finally able to breathe. 

"You're a ghost," he said to a room so silent he could almost believe what he was saying. "A ghost who's been haunting me all of these years."

He suddenly couldn't bear keeping his eyes shut, as if he feared the room would be empty if he kept them closed for too long. So he looked up, examined the pained grey eyes of the person who had caused him so much main himself. He swallowed, not daring to look away.

"You lied to me," he said, fingers gripping the edge of the window sill. Confusion blended with the hurt in Nezumi's eyes. "All those years ago, when you left me. You lied."

Nezumi stepped towards him again.

"What are you talking about?" he said. "I promised we would meet again, and here I am."

Shion shook his head. His damp white hair clung to his face. He suppressed a shiver. Between the drafty room thanks to the open window, his soaked clothes and the ghost standing in front of him, every inch of his skin felt frozen.

"Why did you leave?" he asked. "Were you bored of me? Did you want to make me wait, so that you could go off and have your own adventures, have your own fun, while I waited like a good little dog for you to come home?"

"What?" Irritation was added to the mix of emotions painted on Nezumi's face. "Where is this coming from? I told you..."

"You told me a lie!" Shion shouted, pushing himself away from the wall. It was the most emotion he had shown in years. Since Nezumi had left, he had grown guarded. He went about, helping build the new city. Helping people, making something new. And yet, none of it had meant anything. He didn't cry, he barely laughed, and he never yelled. But an anger that had been building inside of him was finally bursting. 

"You told me we couldn't be together because you were a wanderer, and I was a settler, but that isn't true is it?" he said, "You were never a wanderer. It took me too long to figure it out, but I've had long enough. You've never wandered. When you were little you stayed in the forest until it burned down. And once you escaped you stayed in that apartment until the city walls collapsed. And I bet you haven't spent the past four years wandering. I bet you found some other apartment, some job at a second-rate theater and stayed there. You pretend to be emotionless. You pretend that you're unattached, but you're not. You feel, and you set down roots, and you get attached, just like the rest of us. You're human too!"

Shion shoved him back with both hands. He stumbled back a step or two, though Shion knew that he had more than enough capability to stay steady. Shock had replaced every emotion on his face, but was slowly fading to something else. Something like warmth, and was that...guilt? 

"I guess that's a step up from a ghost," he said.

Shion clenched his fists, tears were already running down his face. If they weren't warm, he wouldn't be able to tell them from raindrops. 

"Why did you leave?" he demanded. "And why are you back?"

Nezumi stared at him for a moment, as if trying to read him. Shion's expression was set. After a moment he looked away.

"I was scared," he said, eyes locked onto the wall to his right. "I told you that. You scared me."

"Because you didn't understand me," Shion said bitterly. 

"Yes," Nezumi said, still not looking him in the eye. "But also because I relied on you."

Shion's fists loosened slightly, not out of forgiveness, but out of confusion, out of curiosity. Nezumi glanced at him briefly before shifting his gaze to his boots. 

"I was a kid," he said. "I wasn't used to relying on people. I wasn't used to getting attached. I was terrified of it. Getting attached to someone was like suicide."

Finally he looked up and met Shion's eyes. 

"So yeah, I was scared," he said, "but I shouldn't have blamed you for it. It wasn't your fault."

Some tiny sliver of guilt loosened in Shion's heart. 

"Ok," he said after a moment, his voice no less stony than before. "So why have you come back?" 

"I left to prove to myself that I could get on without you. And I guess I sort of did. But the longer I stayed away, the dumber all of it seemed. It got to a point where I didn't know what I was trying to prove anymore. I just missed you." 

His voice cracked, but he coughed to cover it. Shion could see the break in his facade. It didn't make his anger disappear, but it abated it, if only slightly. 

"And you always called me an airhead," he said, allowing himself just a touch of satisfaction at the way Nezumi scowled. He huffed and rolled his eyes, but Shion could detect a hint of a smile. 

"Besides," Nezumi said, taking another step towards him. "I made you a promise."

Shion backed up as he approached, until his back hit the window sill. Rain was still beating against the cold glass. He leaned back, pressing his head against the glass as Nezumi loomed over him, one hand on the pane beside his head. 

"Please," he said softly. "Let me touch you."

He reached out with his other hand to brush his cheek, but Shion ducked under his arm before he could, darting away from his embrace. Not yet. He couldn't forgive him just yet. And he knew as soon as he let himself touch Nezumi, he would have already done just that.

"What have you been doing all this time?" he said as Nezumi twisted around to look at him standing in the center of the room. "Was I right? Some second-rate theater and a shabby apartment."

Nezumi stood up straight, looking slightly annoyed, but more disappointed. Shion knew Nezumi was very tactile. It was how he communicated. And Shion didn't used to mind. He wouldn't mind. But he couldn't allow it just yet. 

"Not too far off," he said. "I did travel around for a bit. But it didn't make much sense to me. I wasn't looking to meet anyone knew. I didn't know what I was looking for at all. So yeah, I settled down eventually."

He started his approach again. Slow and casual, but Shion watched him cautiously.

"You said you weren't looking to meet anyone knew," he said carefully. "Did you?"

"Did I..."

"Did you meet someone?"

That got Nezumi to stop in his tracks. He breathed a laugh again, then spoke in a teasing voice.

"Why? Would you be jealous?"

Shion swallowed.

"No," he said, not completely lying or telling the truth. "I am only curious."

"Let's say I have," Nezumi said slyly. "What about you? Anyone special?"

There was a touch of fear in Nezumi's eyes, and Shion could understand why. Nezumi came back, which meant even if he had met other people, he had ultimately chosen Shion over any one of them. There was no guarantee, however, that Shion wouldn't have moved on in such a long time. Four years was plenty of time to move on and fall in love. It was plenty of time to replace someone special with someone else. 

"Shion?" Nezumi said, an unmistakable nervousness in his voice as Shion stayed quiet, not quite meeting his eyes. After letting him squirm, figuratively of course, for a couple of moments, Shion locked his gaze onto him.

"No," he said, his voice laced with a calm anger that only used to appear when Nezumi was in danger. "I did what you wanted of me. I waited for you like a good little boy. I've been rebuilding this city. Just like you wanted me to."

Nezumi eyed him warily, no doubt recognizing his expression from their days of violence, but ultimately deflated, looking relieved. He started towards him again. 

"You worried me there for a second," he said. 

Shion laughed bitterly.

"Really? You think there would really be anyone after me with this hair, these eyes, and this," he traced his finger along the mark on his neck. 

Nezumi frowned. 

"I bet there are more people who are fond of you than you realize," he said. "You're selling yourself short."

"Whatever, it doesn't matter," Shion said, backing away as Nezumi started to get dangerously close. "I did what you told me, just like always."

Nezumi stopped again and Shion couldn't help but be relieved. He was almost at the edge of his bed. That was the last place he wanted Nezumi to gain the upper hand. 

"You regret it then?" he said, a blank expression on his face. "You're mad at yourself for not moving on."

Shion stood still, feeling the way Nezumi studied his face. Then he deflated. 

"No," he said softly, "but I was hurt. You were gone a long time."

Nezumi said nothing, his face still expressionless. Shion continued, looking him directly in the eyes.

"And knowing that if you had been gone longer, I would probably still be waiting for you... it does make me frustrated. But I wouldn't regret it. Not if there was still a chance you were coming back."

Shion hated himself for saying it, for giving in. But he had already been waiting so long. As much as he wanted Nezumi to understand the way he felt, he also wanted to touch him again. To stop feeling so cold. 

Nezumi closed the space between them, but didn't reach out for him. Instead he stood still and waited. Shion swallowed as he raised his hand. His fingers moved agonizingly slowly as he brought them to Nezumi's cheek. He hesitated for a moment, then gently brushed against Nezumi's skin. 

He was real.

Suddenly Shion was hugging him tightly and Nezumi's arms were wrapped around him. They stayed like that for what felt like hours, just holding on to each other. Shion's face was burried in his chest. Nezumi was back. After all of that time, which felt like forever, it seemed like only an instant ago that he had said goodbye. 

When Shion finally pulled away, tears were running down his face again. Nezumi left one arm wrapped around his waist, but cradled the side of his head with his other hand.

"Always so quick to tears," he teased, though any bite was dampened by the moisture pooling in his own eyes. 

Shion slapped him hard across the face. Nezumi brought his hand up to touch his reddened cheek, but didn't seem all that surprised.

"Punishment?" he asked. 

Shion nodded.

"Never look down on me like that again," he said.

And then he kissed him.


End file.
